


Echos in the night

by TheMidnightMoonChild



Series: Echo’s in the night [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Blood and Injury, Drinking to Cope, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mentioned Southside Serpents Gang, Original Character(s), Protective Sweet Pea (Riverdale), Rough Sex, Shameless Smut, Suicidal Thoughts, Sweet Pea (Riverdale) Being an Asshole, Unplanned Pregnancy, Violence, virus outbreak
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:48:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23721118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMidnightMoonChild/pseuds/TheMidnightMoonChild
Summary: After an unknown virus spreads through Riverdale, the town goes into lockdown and quickly ascends into chaos. Jughead does is best to try and lead the serpents in their new world full of madness.All characters are portrayed as 18+
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Fangs Fogarty/Original Female Character(s), Jughead Jones & Original Character(s), Jughead Jones/Original Female Character(s), Sweet Pea (Riverdale)/Original Character(s), Sweet Pea (Riverdale)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Echo’s in the night [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1905496
Comments: 16
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All characters are portrayed as 18+

She rolled beneath him, the smell of her body was like gasoline and weed mixed with some sort of exotic fruit. It was disgusting. But it was tolerable somehow, it was visceral and raw.

It was the world they lived in.

His hand scooped under her thigh to open her for him. Naked, his sweaty back was covered in scratches and smears of oil. Warm water wasn't something that was easy to find where they lived, so bathing regularly was a luxury for people without the means to bargain their way to something better.

There was no real caste system in the world now. The Southside was still poorer and the Northside still richer, that was it. But nobody cared about who was in a gang, or who had been on the honor roll anymore.

Her hands gripped his narrow hips, hammering the bare length of his dick into her body like she'd die without it. Condoms - something he refused to have sex without, last thing sweet pea wanted was to end up with a bastard child.

Still, he made her scream.

His right hand lifted her leg higher while her other foot hooked at his calve and anchored. Her nails thrust into his ass, harder, tighter, almost drawing blood. She did it wetly, cursing, telling him to fuck her harder.

Why not? It was the only time she had any fun. Not that sweet pea was the only guy she had sex with, but he was definitely one of the best.

He accidentally bent her leg too far back, causing her some pain. She liked that too. Hell, sometimes it was all about feeling anything at all. He was fucking her so hard it made the bed jerk and jump on the cracked stained floor.

It was ok. There was always someone screaming and fighting outside. It was so loud, no one would hear her anyway.  
While she jerked, he pinned her to the bed and ground himself in her so hard it almost hurt. She grunted and jerked him harder against her. Sweet pea didn’t mind, he liked it rough.

They both did. In a world where they couldn't sleep without one eye open, in a time when the fall of mankind had left them in Riverdale like gypsies, begging for scraps and hiding from death, sometimes a good fuck was the only thing that kept you sane.

They never kissed, not once. 

Sweet pea pulled out before he came. Even with a condom on, he still didn’t like the idea of cunning inside her. She groaned, and shoved him away from her. He rolled away, onto his back, staring at the filthy ceiling.  
Molly strode across the cracked tiles to the counter, naked, picking up the cigarettes there to light one and inhaling, sharply.

On the bed, with his dick still half erect and the condom leaking all over his belly, Sweet pea tried to remember when they'd started fucking. He couldn’t even think how long ago it was, did it matter? 

Sometime after they'd been shoved into different zones. Some had been lucky enough to get out, and enter the green zone. A.k.A the Northside. The story was some people started running some kind of freedom resistance from both sides of the town, but he never listened enough to fully know.

There were some nights he couldn't even remember after family had died. All sweet pea had of his biology family was his grandmother, who became sick quickly and without proper healthcare died even quicker. That was when he found the serpents, who he began to think of like family. But it still didn’t fill the void.

He'd been so deep in the bottle at the time, he was surprised he was still alive.  
The fall of the world hadn't taken long, from what he could remember. He was young. Just a kid still at high school. In some ways he still was, but they all had to grow up fast. 

It was the small towns that imploded first. They went down in a blaze of glory, lost in the first wave of “infection” and internal corruption. Looting, rape, kidnapping, destruction, murder...it all sky-rocketed. Anarchy over ran where the infection failed. 

The first to die were the ones who sought peace- anyone that tried to rise and restore order was quickly obliterated. 

This is the world they lived in.

They had no connection to the outside world of Riverdale apart from social media, the town had been split into three areas. Green, yellow, and red zones. All three were under surveillance, everywhere else in the town was overrun by the ghoulies. Some people wanted to make a stand, and try to make a change.  
A few worked hard to stay off the grid, including sweet pea.

The first of the zones had resulted from a desperate idea to save the few people left in the town. A bartering system replaced money in the yellow zone - it was trading goods for goods now. It was scrap metal for food. It was rationed to each person in the zones based on need.  
Most days? Those in the red zone didn't eat for three days.

If you got caught by a guard violating the rules, there was no mercy. You couldn't carry a weapon. You couldn't leave the town without permission. You couldn't be outside your living area after curfew. Arguing with a “solider" was an immediate cause for getting killed on the spot.

He turned his head to look at her ass where it leaned over the counter. The first night she'd taken him to bed, he'd been almost at rock bottom. He'd been contemplating the easiest way to simply meet death.

It was easy enough in their world. It was opening your mouth to the wrong person and being fed a bullet. If he really wanted to die, he'd have found a way.

She threw herself at him by the camp fire. She'd knocked the beer out of his hand and shoved him back against a wall.  
Friends? Not really, truthfully he never really liked her. Still didn’t. Molly just wasn't a nice person. But he still used her for pleasure.

She'd gotten down on her knees and blown him in the firelight that night. She'd sucked his cock like she'd draw all the poison from his soul.  
It didn't work, but it reminded him his body still had needs. They fucked when it suited them, fucked off when it didn’t as well.

He didn't ask how, or why she was letting him do this. He just did it. If he could still feel pleasure. He was going to survive.

He'd fucked her standing against that wall that night. She'd covered his mouth with her hand to ask him, "You're going to cum in me. Would you like that?"

He shook his head, almost in disbelief.  
That was that then. They established a few rules that night. He would never cum inside her, and they would never kiss. 

A few serpents kept trying to get him to leave with them and run away to find the others. But Sweet pea was against it. He just wanted to live his life and die. He didn't want to sign up for some useless vendetta that would being more misery and disappointment.

Sweet pea didn't want to be coerced into the fight. So he stayed behind, death waiting him out.

When it suited Molly, she bargained for guns with anything she had. Trading ration cards, she traded favors, she traded herself when necessary. It was the world they lived in. He never really cared enough to judge, but had a theory Molly secretly liked it.

There was no love lost here, they both knew that. It was an arrangement that suited them both. They were fucked up, shut down, surviving and making the best of it. Truthfully he didn’t even find her that attractive. She wasn’t ugly, with her petite tanned body, and neon red hair, she was someone he could fuck. But that was it.

Lost in his own thoughts, sweet pea almost jumped when she poked a cigarette in his mouth and moved to get dressed. The fire exercise beyond the window was loud and drawing to a close. He rolled his head to look out the dirty window as she spoke, "I need your help. Penny, that little bitch, is holding on to my fucking guns. She didn't deliver them two days ago to the drop. She has either sold them off to another buyer, or keeping them, so I give her more money."

Sweet pea scratched his chest before rolling his eyes. "Ok...so?"

Molly answered, "I need you to help me find her. I need those guns."

Rolling his head back to look at her. "Why me?" He groaned.

He watched as molly pouted, before banging on about how others were scared of the serpents, and mostly him. And how she needed them for some rebellions act.

He shrugged, "Fine. You know where to find her?" Sweet pea mentally kicked himself for agreeing. He was like the reluctant Robin Hood of the resistance to her. He hated it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this a few months ago, and will have the first few chapters posted over the weekend.


	2. Chapter 2

_“Fine. You know where to find her?"_

Molly nodded, shifting over to the bed. She was in her jeans and a pink vest top. Her flat belly shown nicely beneath it. She was braless, and unconcerned about it. Casually scooping her wavy red hair back in a ragged ponytail, as if it wasn’t noticeable.

"Riverdale high school. You know she hangs out at abandoned places, I think it's time I offed her and took over his goddamn gun running." She let out a dark laugh as she saw the look on sweet peas face.

He arched a brow at her, "Dangerous game there, Molly. She's on the radar for the Ghoulies. You off her, they might sniff you out and start looking into all the serpents. Then you really will be fucked."

She shrugged, watching him on the bed. "You know I wasn’t being serious about killing her. No need to get so defensive over the serpents.”

He held her gaze, "don’t talk about it then."

"Maybe it's time you lighten up."

He shook his head, rolling to his feet,  
"You're a fucking fool for even thinking it, and Jones made it clear, no guns. He saved you, don’t forget it."

She shrugged, shifting as he rose and dressed. He pulled on a plaid shirt and a pair of jeans. His hair was scooped back by his hands, pieces still fell around to frame his jaw.

"Since when do you agree with Jughead?” Molly scowled as she spoke. She sometimes regretted joining, all the rules made her feel trapped.

He glanced over his shoulder at her, answering her shrug with his own, "Freedom isn't free, Molly. It comes with a price. He’s the serpent king, and I’m not going against him without a good reason."

"What is a good reason?"

He shrugged again, "You tell me? Let me guess you want to sell guns to the ghoulies? Fuck them. They can’t be trusted, not a damn one of them would piss on you if you were on fire."

She sighed, studying his face, "...you would."

He picked up his pocket knife and secured it to his forearm under the plaid. He glanced at her, holding her gaze,"...maybe. Someone would miss fucking you." _But not me._

She laughed, moving toward the door. "That was like a big hug with words, Sweets. I'm close to dropping on my back to show you how much I appreciate it."

He smirked, shaking his head, and followed her out into the street. "Always the ladies man."

She rolled her eyes, "You're about as comforting as thong made out of a cactus."

Sweet pea shrugged and followed her across the makeshift bridge to the next building. It was made of wood that wobbled as they crossed.

He followed Molly down the side stairwell toward the main street. She cautioned, as they slipped down the alley behind the tattered building and avoided detection, last thing they needed was someone snitching to Jughead.

"Let me do the talking when we find her, ok?" Molly said quietly, "I hate that little bitch anyway. You know she's the reason Echo got sent to the red zone."

Sweet pea gritted his teeth, now he really wanted to make Penny pay. It was no secret that he was protective over the serpents, but he was even more so towards Echo and Toni. Maybe it was because they were girls, or because they were like sisters to him. Nobody knew what had actually happened to Echo, just that she was gone.

“I wonder when she will get back” sweet pea mumbled under his breath. He was secretly scared that his friend would never come back, a lot of people disappeared when they entered that zone.

“Oh she’s back, Fangs said she was in an awful state.” Molly said was a smirk on her face. She never liked Echo, she was a weak stuck up bitch. The redhead took great delight whenever things decent wrong for her.

Sweet pea grabbed her by the arm roughly, pulling her closer to him. “You knew she was back and never told me?” He practically hissed.

Molly shrugged in reply. She withheld that information from him deliberately, knowing he would run off to look for her straight away. He always did.

“Fuck this”, was all sweet pea said before storming away. He didn’t need Molly, and he sure as hell didn’t need her drama. 

FP had asked him to keep an eye on her anyway, he always questioned Molly’s loyalty. They all knew Sweet pea had been screwing her, he had so many notches on his bed it wasn’t a surprise. However, he would do anything for his friend, including snitching on other serpents who would threaten them. If Molly has actually purchased guns, he would have told both Jones men straight away. He was just interested in seeing how far down the rabbit hole she was willing to go.

# ______

“How do you feel? What can I do for you?” Toni asked concerned. Her friend looked like shit, and had a hand print mark on her left cheek. 

“Thank you, but I’m fine”, Echo said with a weak smile. She felt as terrible as she looked. After not eating, sleeping, or showering in days the exhausting was crawling over her. “I just need a good sleep” she yawned.

A little while later after eating one of Fangs questionable meals, and sink washing in the bathroom of the wyrm, Echo finally fell asleep in the storage room. FP decided it was to be a make shift first aid room for serpents, and because of Echos ‘condition’ she was allowed to sleep in it most the time. It was safer for her to be inside that outside when it was getting colder.

The door creaked open slowly, Sweet pea popped his head into the room to see if Echo was sleeping. He pulled up a chair and would stay there until she was awake, he wasn’t leaving until he found out what happened.


	3. Chapter 3

Echo jerked awake. The taste of acid in her mouth was revolting, she reached for the bin next to the ‘bed’ which was a stained mattress on the ground. Morning sickness was a horrible, even more so when it came on at anytime of the day or night.

“What did you do this time? Don’t tell me it was that creepy guard again” Sweet pea asked quietly, as he gently rubbed her back. There was a guard called Anderson who was known for fucking young pretty girls, however he wasn’t a fan of being rejected. He had lost count how many times himself, Jones, or Fangs had to step in when he was harassing female serpents.

“Nothing, I did nothing. It was that floozy you are always banging” she huffed. “I saw Molly setting a ghoulies car on fire, we began arguing when a guard was called..she ran off and left me to take the blame.”

Sweet pea felt physically sick, he was seriously done with the redhead now. He had spent the night fucking her while Echo was suffering. Molly had to go. How could anyone let a pregnant woman go to the red zone? It was a miracle the brunette came back in one piece. He sighed, pushing strands of her hair behind her ear. Her gray eyes seemed hazy, probably from lack of sleep.

“Are you still sleeping with her?” Echo asked already knowing the answer. Sweet pea would stick his dick in anyone, even a person like Molly.

He sighed, “I was Yeah. I’m done with her now though... do the other know yet it was her that got you in trouble?” Jones needed to know as soon as possible if he didn’t already. It was dangerous to have Molly around, she didn’t have a loyal bone in her body. He just regretted ever fucking her.

“No, I haven’t told them. I was so scared pea, not for me but anything could have happened to the baby.” She said putting her hand on her growing bump, “things are so violent in there.”

“It’s three in the morning, you should try to get some sleep” he said softly. “The serpents will deal will Molly later, right now you need to sleep.” Sweet pea ran his fingers through her light brown hair until she fell back asleep, he gently placed her head that was pressed against his chest onto a pillow. He quietly got up and left her sleeping peacefully, he glanced down at his friend one more time before leaving.

He needed to deal with Molly, he knew beforehand she was trouble, he just didn’t realize how much. The redhead was self-centred, rude, and reeked of jealousy. But this was a new low, she was now a threatening other serpents. Not even a darker minded person like Sweet pea expected that.

# ______

“She what?!” Toni yelled smacking her hands off the table “we can’t let her get away with this! Jughead you should have done something about her yesterday!” She yelled glaring at him. Jones had always been a good friend to her, however he never listened. She had warned him about Molly the minute she’s joined.

Jughead remanded silent as the rest of the serpents bickered among each other. He knew it was going to be bad when Sweet pea woke them up early, but he couldn’t imagine how bad it was. A serpent betraying their own was a reason for being exiled, Molly had been pulling shit for months. He was glad he now finally had a reason to kick her out, he just wished it wasn’t at someone else’s expense.

“I’ll speak to my dad, then we will hold a serpent meeting. How is Echo now?” He asked looking directly at Sweet pea? He knew the taller serpent would have been with her most recently.

Sweet pea shrugged “she’s exhausted, all the stress is making her sick again. I left Fangs to watch over her, so she wasn’t alone when she woke up.”

It was the serpent's law that they looked after one another, but it was an unspoken fact that certain gang members had a stronger bond. Fangs, sweet pea, Toni, Echo, and Jughead had a different type of bond. The type they would do anything for each other, which is why when Echo fell pregnant with her asshole of an ex ‘s baby they all became overprotective. Especially Sweet pea. Truthfully, they all knew how heartbroken he was when Echo got back together with her ex.

Jughead appreciated Sweet pea telling him the truth about the guns, so he would need to find a punishment for him. He thought it was better if sweet pea wasn’t there when Molly was exiled, she could easily turn to the cards and implicate him because of the quick romps they had.

# ______

By that afternoon all the serpents minus two had arrived at the Wyrm, Sweet pea took Echo to his trailer for the night. He didn’t have much, but it was clean and dry, which was much better than her own. The brunette's trailer had a two leaks in the roof, one above her bed and small kitchen. She needed to find money to get it repaired before the baby came, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to live in it.

They sat in silence both wondering what was happening at the bar. His TV was working for the meantime, the electricity would come and go, the same with signals on phones, or radios. The guards claimed it was a worldwide problem, but they all knew it was so they couldn’t tell anyone about the infected. Whenever a mobile phone did work, the signal only seemed to spread to people nearby.

“Are you wanting a boy or a girl?” Sweet pea asked to break the silence “because I know a excellent name if it’s a boy” he grinned.

“I’m not naming the baby after you, that would be playing favorites” she said smiling “and I was thinking Logan or Aubrey, however I’ll not pick anything until I see the baby” she sighed. Echoes smiled faded, the thought of bringing a child into a world full of madness and viruses was depressing. Her kid would never have a normal childhood.

Sweet pea swung his large arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head lightly “hey, I promise you nothing will ever happen to that baby.” He was about to continue the conversation of trying to persuade her to pick his name, when his phoned surprisingly vibrated. He pulled it out of his pocket, and saw a text from Fangs.

Echo was instantly worried by the look on his face, he was frowning at his phone. “What is it? What happened?” She asked concerned.

“Fogarty says things got heated, that Molly didn’t go quietly. But she’s gone that’s all that matters.” He said reassuringly, “he also says a few serpents drank a little too much and have passed out in the bar. So it looks like you will be stuck with me tonight.”

“Joy unbound.” She hit his arm playfully, they used to have sleepovers all the time as children. Unlike the rest of the serpents, Sweet pea grew up with Echo as his next door neighbor. Their families had trailers next to each other, until Echo’s dad ditched and her mom died of an overdose. When Sweet pea’s grandma got ill, Echo got a second job to try to help pay for her meds. Unfortunately she died from the virus when it first out-broke in Riverdale. 

“Your grandma would probably have knitted me a hundred baby outfits by now. Remember the matching Christmas jumpers she made us?” Echo laughed.

“Don’t remind me” he groaned. It was a pink and yellow stripy jumper with a tree in the middle, all the other kids teased him about it except Echo who loved it so much she got her own as an early Christmas present. 

“You looked so cute in it pea, you should wear pink more often. It really brings out the colour in your eyes.” she grinned shoving his shoulder playfully. They must have ten when his grandmother made them.

“She would be over the moon you’re having a baby, you know.” he said as Echo rested her head on his shoulders. He still felt incredibly guilty, he felt partly responsible for the redhead holding such a grudge against her. He was about to tell Echo he was sorry, when a noise from outside caught his attention.

Both of them jumped when the trailer door was loudly swung open. “Hey Guys! You missed the show” Fangs said bouncing onto the other couch. He was closely followed by Toni and Jughead, who had hotdog in his arms.

“What happened?” Sweet asked, he couldn’t help but notice the way Echo was tensing. She naturally worried about everyone all the time before, but being pregnant just seemed to make her more paranoid.

“Molly made a few threats before sulking away, saying she hated the serpents anyway, so she was banished.” Jughead chuckled closing the door behind him, “speaking of which sweet pea, we took a vote and you have to watch hot dog for two weeks.”

Sweet pea rolled his eyes, he loved dogs but hotdog was smelly and snored really loud, he hated having him overnight. “Fine. Is that it?” He asked confused, he didn’t trust the wide grin Toni was giving him.

“No, that’s it. It was suggested you got banned from the bar for a month, but I argued you needed to be there in case Echo went into labor.” Jughead answered. A few others wanted a harsher punishment for Sweet pea, but his friends and FP knew how depressed he had been and decided to give him a free pass this time. Besides Sweet pea was known for his loyalty to the serpents, him screwing someone who wasn’t didn’t change that.

They sat till late at night talking and laughing before Jughead got a phone call from his dad, Molly had started throwing her tantrum about being exiled from the serpents already. She was currently running her mouth all over town, trying to cause trouble for them. He chose to keep that information to himself, he reckoned his friend’s deserved one night stress free.

# ______

It was practically a ghost town in the Southside of Riverdale. The shops and establishments were only open a couple of hours a week, and had very few things for sale. Sweet pea and Fangs had gone on a scavenging mission, even if Echo and Toni had warned them about how dangerous it is, and especially trying to stop them from going down near the red zone. So far, the two boys had only seen a few homeless people loitering the streets or finding shelter in alleys and ruined buildings. Their plan was to break into abandoned cars, to see what they could bring back.

Molly had caused the rift between the serpents and everyone else who was still in Riverdale worse, pointless vandalism with serpents tags attached to them. Which was making it impossible to swap with other gangs, none of them wanted to be associated with the serpents any longer. The redhead had also tipped the ghoulies off about where they stashed their supplies. Now most of their necessities were gone, they had no soap left, hardly any food, or batteries left. They would quickly run out of what little they had fast.

“Jughead’s right, we will need somewhere else to crash soon. This winter is meant to be one of the worst, and the trailers won’t be enough when they are all falling apart.” Sweet pea said concerned. The cold was creeping up fast, the older and sick serpents wouldn’t last the winter, he was also concerned how a newborn baby would cope in cold weather.

He and Fangs had decided to head back to the trailer park they had managed to find some torches, some more blankets but that was it.

“What about the school?” Fangs asked. “It has plenty of space for all the serpents, first aid supplies, hot showers. Probably has loads of food as well.”

Sweet pea pondered his friends observation. “It would be ideal but Penny runs it, if we could get her out it would be perfect.”

“I think it’s just her that stays in the school, the ghoulies have their own den.” Fangs pointed out as they crossed the bridge. He was right, if they found a way to lure Penny out they would be able to overrun her easily, considering all the shit she had put the gang through before, it would make them even. Plus the ghoulies wouldn’t be around.

“How would we get... ah fuck!” Fangs yelled out, his foot had gone through a hole on the bridge. “Fuck!” His foot was throbbing, and he could see the blood dripping from it, even in the dark.

“Shit Fangs!” Sweet pea said as he helped Fangs get off the bridge. Once they got closer to the bar, he called out for help. He was carrying both their bags, and his heavy friend was leaning against him. Sweet pea was strong, but he was beginning to struggle.

A few serpents rushed out to help him, once inside he explained the conversation they had to FP while Echo bandaged up Fangs foot. A piece of sharp wood had cut through his worn out shoes. It wasn’t too deep, but giving where it was it would be painful for a good few days.

“How would you get her out? Penny isn’t stupid. This is a dangerous game. If it goes wrong we will end up with even less, I’m not sure we can risk it.” FP said concerned. The last thing they needed was to bring more problems, they would all end up in the red zone if they got caught. He was positive they wouldn’t all survive it.

Sweet pea sighed, FP was right it was risky, but they had to try something. “If we plan it right we will get the school, we need to try something” he said stepping closer to him. He glanced back at a very pregnant looking Echo, “we need to decide quickly. I don’t think we have much time to waste” said in a low voice.

FP and Sweet pea both turned to face Jughead, it was him that had the final decision. It was a classic ‘damned if you damned if you don't’ situation. “Fine, let’s come up with a plan. Everyone better stick to it this time” he sighed.


	4. Chapter 4

The night had finally come, the serpents were going to take the Riverdale high back. They would cause a distraction by starting a small fire outside, when Penny came outside to investigate a few serpents would run inside and gain access to the room she kept the guns in. Jughead had a no guns rule, but he made an exception for this one night, as long as nobody got injured.

“Pea, do you really need to go? Can’t you stay?” Echo asked teary eyed, she was scared he would get hurt. Jughead would be careful and quiet, and FP would keep the others in line, but Sweet pea on the other hand was like a tornado. He was tall, loud, and couldn’t keep his temper at bay if provoked.

“I’ll be fine babe, don’t worry about me” he said, popping his switch-blade into his pocket. “Echo don’t stress, I need to do this for all of us. We will be back in no time”.

“I can stand watch with FP, we all I’m a better lookout anyway” she said half joking. Only a week away from her due date, Echo was under strict orders to stay far away from trouble as much as possible.

Sweet pea frowned facing her “don’t even think about it” he knew if she wasn’t pregnant she would be out there with him. “Besides you need all the practice you can get looking after babies” he said nudging towards Fangs laying on an old couch, he had hardy moved all week with his foot in so much pain. It had got infected, and they had to trade a lot of alcohol with a Northsider’s to get him the antibiotics he needed.

“Fine. You better all come back in one piece” she said sternly, placing her hands on her hips.

Sweet pea grinned, she was adorable when angry. He leaned in and kissed her forehead “Don’t worry” was all he said before leaving the bar. Jumping into the back of FP’s car, he looked back once more to see Toni shaking her head at him. His pink haired friend didn’t approve of him going either. She was admitted his place was beside Echo, not putting his life on the line. They also had to worry about infected turning up. 

They sat in silence until they arrived at the high school, “lets stick to the plan gang” FP said before they all went separate ways. After scouting the area out, and they were sure nobody else was in the area they set the plan into motion. A couple of younger serpents set a shed on fire, as planned Penny stepped outside, but she wasn’t alone.

“Is that Molly?” Jughead hissed between gritted teeth. Leaning closer he could see it in fact was the ex serpent. She had already betrayed them, but this was like a kick in the balls. “What do we do now?” he asked his dad in a whisper.

“We’ve already started son, might as well see how this thing plays out” FP answered sighing.

Gulping down Jughead waved for sweet pea to follow him, they snuck though the door Penny and Molly had just walked out of, they were currently chasing after the serpents who caused the fire. The boys didn’t have far to run, they had a getaway driver waiting on them.

Jughead and Sweet pea searched fast as they could for the guns, with no joy. No doubt they had been moved to a separate location, almost as if they knew beforehand to move them. Hearing a noise they decided to hide, they watched from behind the reception desk two ghoulies walk past. “Shit” they both did in unison. Someone had defiantly tipped them off, it wasn’t a coincidence.

“What do we do now Jones?” Sweet pea asked in a low voice. The two ghoulies where walking up and down the hallway, both holding weapons in their hands.

They had two choices. Either stay hidden and attempt to escape once they were gone, or fight. They had more serpents waiting outside if things turned sideways, Jughead had wanted to avoid violence at all costs but it seemed they would have no choice. The ghoulies would keep stealing their stuff until there was nothing left, then what? Nobody needed to get seriously harmed, just enough that it scared them off.

“If they want a fight, we’ll give them one.” Was Jughead’s answer, he fumbled in his pocket pulling out his knife.

The two boys looked at each other and nodded, they both stood up together getting ready to fight. Sweet pea wanted it to be over sooner rather than later, he just wanted back to the whyte wyrm. His mind wondered to his friends waiting on them, he hoped they were all safe in the bar. If things went sideways, they would struggle to protect themselves. It was something he regretted not thinking about before.

# ______

After Toni shut the door behind Sweet pea Echo felt a tightness in her chest, she was so worried. She wouldn’t know what to do if he got hurt, or killed. The brunette was to stay in the bar to watch Fangs rather than waiting in her trailer, while Toni was to stay and watch them both.

Three hours had passed without any word, Echo was pacing back and forth. “It’s getting late, we should have heard something by now. What if they got hurt or caught? For all we know Penny has paid guards on her side”.

“You need to chill babe. The boys know what they are doing, plus FP is a pro at this stuff” Toni said smiling, she was secretly worried but needed to keep a brave face. “Why don’t you sit down? You looked exhausted”.

She was right, Echo was exhausted constantly these days. She nodded and sat down, placing a hand on her sore swollen stomach. Between the morning sickness that had never seemed to pass, heartburn, and constant peeing she was miserable.

“I’m going to go check we have plenty of ice” Toni said looking at the empty bucket before disappearing down into the basement, once the others returned they would probably need some. Either in a drink, or for any bruises they had.

Flipping through a magazine that was about five years old, Echo felt a snapping pain in her lower stomach. She had been getting cramping on and off for days, she just put it down to the lack of food. Looking down she could see a liquid covering the crotch area of her jean, her water had broken. She was going into labor a week early.

Fangs was curled up on the couch, covered in a comfy knitted blanket sleeping peacefully when something hitting him in the face woke up him. He opened his eye to see a pillow covering his face, and could hear a faint cry.

“Fangs” Echo cried out.

“Oh my god!” He got to his feet and limped over to her fast as he could, she was leaning over the table crying out in pain “oh fuck! What do I do?! What do we do?! Toni!” He practically screamed. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but he didn’t think it was good that she had gone into labor early.

“What’s going on?” Toni said running back into the room, she could hear screaming from the basement. She walked in to see Echo with a pool of liquid at her feet, and Fangs freaking out. She didn’t know who was louder.

“Fangs get her onto the couch, while I get some help” she said rushing out the door, Toni ran the short distance to the trailer park and banged on the doors of older serpents who would hopefully know what to do.

The ink haired serpent returned shortly with an older female serpent, Leslie who had experienced delivering babies before. She had short curly hair, heavy facial hair, and bright red lipstick on. If she wasn’t in so much pain, Echo would have sworn a clown was about to deliver her baby. She didn’t want to give birth in a dirty bar, it wasn’t sterile, she didn’t even know the last time the floors had been moped. The brunette had planned to give birth in hospital, it was the only time the northsider’s would let them into their territory.

“Hun, you need to lay down. I don’t think this baby is waiting” Leslie said softly. She wasn’t lying, the best thing to do was deliver before traveling. “You either give birth here, or in the back of a car on the way there”.

Echo was now laying back on the couch, Toni was boiling water while trying to find the cleanest towels she could. Fangs had tried to excuse himself but wasn’t aloud.

“Don’t you dare leave me!” Echo yelled as she grabbed hold of the collar of his shirt, while Leslie flared at him. She would need all the help she could get.

“Are you the father?” Leslie asked, she chuckled at the horrified look that covered both their faces. “If you want the father to be here, Now’s the time for your friends to go get him”.

Echo shook her head, as Fangs squeezed her hand. Her ex had mysteriously disappeared the moment Echo announced she was expecting. She wished Sweet pea was with her, but he wasn’t the father, just her friend. At lest she had two of her other friends with her. “No, no dad. Just me” she said in between screams. She had been in labor for what felt like days. This was the worst pain she had ever felt, her body was going to be torn in half. Taking a deep breath, she tried to focus on the baby she would have once it was all over. The pain would be worth it in the end.

“Fuck, is that normal?” She heard Fangs asking. Echo sat forward to see a blood covering Leslie’s gloves, she tried to talk but no words came out. Everything started to go dark as she heard the women’s voice getting quieter.


	5. Chapter 5

Not amount of alcohol or cigarettes could get the taste of anger and bitterness out of his mouth. Sweet pea was so angry with himself, he had let Echo down.

FP made sure the rest of the serpents were fine before letting them go back to the trailer park, while Jughead and sweet pea went straight to the whyte wyrm. They were surprised to see the lights still on as it was nearly daylight.

_Why is Fangs burning the good couch outside?” Jughead asked pissed. It was the comfiest one they had, he had lost count the amount of times he had crashed out on it._

_FP scoffed, “he’s probably got drunk and threw up on it. What the hell are you doing boy?” He asked walking towards him. It was four in the morning, he was surprised that anyone else was awake._

_The look on Fangs face caused their hearts to drop, that one look told them everything they needed to know. The closer they got the more they could see why he was burning it, the couch was soaked in blood. They also noticed one of Fangs hands was bruised badly._

_“What happened here? Where’s Echo?” A frantic voice asked. Sweet pea was frozen on the spot, he felt like his worst fear was coming alive._

_Fangs shook his head “she’s not here, she’s gone.”_

Closing the bar door behind her, Toni sighed looking at her friend. Sweet pea was outside, smoking. She didn’t smoke, but decided to join him anyway.

The night had been thick and long. His hair was now a shaggy mane, covered in blood and sweat. His face was a mess, he had two black eyes and burst lip. Sweet pea’s world fractured a little not being there for Echo, Toni knew this. They all did. Best friends forever, maybe that's how their story ended.

Sweet pea finally spoke, into the chirp of cricket's in the cold breeze, it was now sunrise. “What is it Topaz?” He asked bluntly. He wasn’t in the mood to talk, or hear a lecture. 

She turned her head, watching him intensely, "Are you... Are you glad you're not the baby’s dad?"

Toni waited. She breathed. And she shook her head, he wasn’t going to answer her. It was a long shot asking him a question like that, he never spoke about his personal life apart from with Fangs, or Echo.

He sighed, "No. No, I'm not. We all know I’d be a shit father, but I sure as hell would have treated Echo better. I wouldn’t have fucked and dumped her, I would never have left her side."

There. He had finally said it.

It was out there. It was said. It was clear between them that he did care for her, that part was the only clear thing. "I meant what I said before. She is your family." Toni paused, screwing her eyes shut. It wasn’t her place to get involved, but after seeing how desperate Echo pinned for him. She needed to say something, "I think you should go for it."

Sweet pea shook his head. He was right before, he wasn’t father material, and they both deserved better than him. “Jones said we are going to start moving shit tonight” he said changing the subject.

# ______

A week later Echo arrived back at the trailer park, with her newborn baby. She was supposed to go home earlier, but the hospital ran multiple tests on her and the baby to make sure they weren’t infected. It was horrible seeing her daughter poked at with needles. However, she had a sneaking suspicion something else was going on. The doctors and nurses had been acting strange, and offered her free home visits. She refused not trusting a word they said. She had decided to give herself a few weeks for her hormones to settle down, before she overthought anything that happened in the hospital. 

Echo returned to her trailer to see her belongings had been taken ‘Fuck sake’ she mumbled under her breath. She had been saving for months now all the baby clothes, bedding, even her mattress was gone. Teary eyed she sat on the floor as her baby started crying, as if she knew they were screwed already. How would they survive without anything? 

Eventually Echo stopped crying and went out looking for other serpents, with no luck. Where the fuck were they? Close to tears again she was confused, she couldn’t find anyone. The only place she hadn’t looked was the whyte wyrm, if nobody was there it was official. She had either been abandoned, or the others had been killed or taken.

She pushed the door to bar open, to only see two older serpents drinking inside it. They both looked over sixty, and extremely surprised to see her. Echo was sure if she didn’t have her serpent jacket on they would have thrown her out giving the unfriendly stares they have her.

“Shouldn’t you have that baby somewhere warmer?” One of them practically hissed at her. They didn’t care about the baby, just that it was making noise.

Frowning she ignored his comment “where’s everything else?” She asked confused, the bar had hardly anything in it either.

He scoffed “at the school”’ he said in a matter of fact tone, as if she was supposed to know what that meant.

The other serpent sighed and pulled out a walkie-talkie from his pocket. “We have a confused girl here wearing a serpent jacket, with a baby that won’t stop screaming” he said glaring at her.

Echo turned to walk out when he shouted at her, “where do you think you're going? FP is on his way. You are to wait here”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shorter chapters, it’s just easier for me to keep track of what I’m writing.


	6. Chapter 6

Echo tugged at the hood of her jacket, pulling it forward to shield her face from the onslaught of rain that fell from the hazy gray sky. The road before her barely glistened as she walked quickly inside her old school. FP explained they had moved in, but never went into any detail. He also apologized, he insisted someone should have been waiting for her at the fences. 

The school was completely different from what she remembered. It somehow seemed cleaner than she remembered, more organized.

“Echo!” She turned to see Jughead walking towards her smiling “is this him or her?” He asked looked at the small bundle she had in her arms.

“It’s a girl.” Echo answered smiling, she shuffled the baby in her arms, so he could see her more clearly. She cleared her throat “Jug, I went by my trailer earlier and everything is gone.”

Jughead smiled at her “follow me.” He said picking up the small bag she had sat on the ground. No doubt stuff she had taken from the hospital.

They walked through different halls she could see the old classrooms had been turned into make shift rooms. He explained for safety reason they would share rooms, that way they would be able to tell if someone was missing. The guards were restricting the towns rules because it was getting darker faster, nobody was allowed out between the hours of nine pm till 8am.

“We are the only ones sleeping on the second floor, my dad has the headmaster’s old office, while me and Fangs have the classroom closest to fire door, while Toni is sharing it with Jodie” he said rolling his eyes, Jodie was extremely loud and annoying but Toni liked her, so they would all need to tolerate her more often.

“So who am I sharing with?” Echo asked confused, she assumed if she had to share it would have been with Toni, unless she wasn’t sharing because she had a baby. Which would make sense, all her daughter did was screaming during the night anyway.

Shaking his head he gave her a skeptical look, surly she didn’t think Sweet pea would let anyone else share a room with her. The serpent had made it clear he didn’t trust anyone else, and Jughead was sure his friends over protectiveness would continue to get worse now there was a baby on the scene. He opened the door to what was once an art classroom, which was now transformed into a semi decent living area.

“It’s not much, but it will do us for the winter” he smiled as he watched Echo’s face light up, some serpents had got her baby gifts. His dad built her a wooden cot, Toni painted it white with yellow love hearts. They had found as many baby things they could find, while Sweet pea had brought the stuff she already bought as well, so hopefully she would have enough baby clothes and diapers do to her through the winter. The snow was meant to be coming fast this year, meaning it would be harder for her to go to the shops.

# ______

After settling the best she could Echo got ready for bed, she had still yet to see Sweet pea. Fangs informed her he had been teaching the younger serpents how to hot wire cars. They laughed as she frowned, it was something they needed to learn some day. This was the new Riverdale, it wasn’t a normal world they lived anymore.

Toni and Fangs stayed with her until she almost fell asleep, it was only seven pm but it was a long day for her. After settling the baby down she slid under the blankets that covered the mattress on the ground. Echo tried to fight sleep much as she could, knowing Sweet pea was going to be back soon. But her heavy eyes betrayed her, letting her fall into a deep sleep.

The room was pitch black when she heard the first sounds of crying, quietly as she could, she walked over to her baby who she hadn’t given a name too yet. She bit her bottom lip as she tried not to whine in pain, breastfeed was agonizing. Echo questioned why they pushed women to do it, sure it was meant to be healthier for the baby, but in a normal world so was formula.

“What time is it?” A groggy voice asked from behind her.

She quickly turned to face him, turning on her flashlight she was able to see the damage on his face. He looked a mess. Echo was so lost in looking at his cuts and bruises, she almost lost the blush on his face. It was then she realized she was flashing him her breasts as well.

“Shit, sorry.” Echo whispered mortified, she tried to cover herself.

“Don’t apologize for feeding your baby, it’s natural. How are you? I should have been here when you got back” Sweet pea said ashamed. He hadn’t been there when she went into labor, now he missed her coming back. Fangs filled him in on Echo walking back to the trailer park in the rain, the guilt had already been eating him up, but that just made him feel a thousand times worse.

The brunette smiled weakly. “Exhausted and sore, but it was worth it to have this little angel” she said in a baby voice. “Do you want to hold her?” She asked as she pulled her top down.

Sweet pea didn’t know why Echo bothered asking him, before he knew what had happened he was holding a tiny baby. She had chubby red cheeks, and was blowing spit bubbles at him. “What’s her name?”

“I haven’t given her one yet, I couldn’t think of anything that felt right. What happened pea?” She asked concerned brushing a hand along his cheek. These bruises looked worse than his normal ones, it must have been some fight they got into.

“We got into it with the ghoulies who were already inside the building...It doesn’t matter now, we have the school.” He couldn’t take his eyes off the baby, her gray eyes were fluttering shut. He placed her back into the cot, before pulling Echo into a hug.

Sweet pea could feel Echo crying against his chest, she was shaking. He rested his cheek against the top of her head, because of the height difference she fit perfectly against him. Almost as if she was made for him.

“I’m sorry Sweets I’m just hormonal,” she said rubbing her eyes, Echo was embarrassed. She didn’t want to burden him with her troubles, he had been stressed enough recently.

Sweet pea knew instantly that she was lying. “What’s going on?” He asked brushing his fingers through her hair.

Echo shook her head before sitting down on the mattress, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. She was afraid he would think she was crazy. “I didn’t think the hospital would let me take her” she sobbed “They done loads of tests on her, something about a vaccine. It wasn’t normal nurses and doctors, it was all scientist people. The ‘doctor’ said they would be watching, and kept saying they wanted to do home checks on her. I was convinced they wanted her.” The brunette’s eyes has turned red, and her cheeks stained with tears now.

Sweet pea didn’t know what to say, so he pulled her in for another hug. He believed her, he had heard stories of children going missing. ‘Social services’ had apparently taken them, that would be a first. Nobody ever cared about kids on the Southside before the virus, they wouldn’t start now for no reason. They only way any serpent would be truly safe now was leaving Riverdale, they needed to escape.


	7. Chapter 7

Echo let out an exhausted sigh and rested her body weight onto the shovel. She understood the chemistry of snow, but why it was so exhausting to shovel was beyond her. All it was fluffy, frozen water. The storm had brought ten inches of it that had to be shoveled off of the steps of the school yard before it hardened into ice. And, even after all that work, everything had to be salted, and it was her turn to salt. They all had different jobs to do, Jughead hadn’t given Echo many jobs since giving birth, but she argued she had to do something.

"Sweets, can we take a break? We've been out here for age, and it's freezing?" She came up and hugged him from behind, trying to procure a bit of warmth from his coat.

"We don't have much more to do, and we're done." He stuck his shovel in the snow so her could turn around and embrace her "Sooner we done, sooner you will be back with Sage." He kissed her cheek, which became a little rosier.

"Workaholic." Echo mumbled under her breath.

"I heard that, Princess." She rolled her eyes at him before returning to shoveling. Sweet pea, likewise, went back to work.

Sweet pea whirled around to see a chunk of snow now stuck to his jacket. He looked over at Echo who was diligently shoveling. He gave her the benefit of the doubt and assumed the snow had fallen from somewhere, the sun was out and it was warm enough for the snow to slowly melt and fall. So, he went back to shoveling. However, the way the snow hit him felt like it had come from a horizontal direction and not a vertical direction.

Something hit him square in the back this time. He turned around to look at Echo again, who was still shoveling. She acknowledged his suspicious stare this time and stopped to give him a coy smile before going back to work. He returned her smile and returned to his own work.

A moment later he felt something hit against his back again. "Alright, Doll face, if that's the game you want to play." Sweet pea dropped his shovel and bent over to start making snowballs. It was a silly scene, two grown serpents throwing snowballs at each other, as their worlds went to shit. The spectacle continued until Sweet pea worked his way close enough to pounce on Echo. She squealed when he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, preventing her from escaping. "There, no more nonsense." He chuckled.

Echo then keenly recognized that they were standing on a patch of ice. So, she pushed her body weight onto him, effectively tipping him off balance and sending both of them tumbling into the snow.

They started laughing, laughing so hard they had to start brushing tears away. Echo pushed herself off of his chest. Sweet pea did look handsome with the snow sprinkled on his features, framing his face.

"I didn't know this was your idea of a break, Princess." he chuckled before leaning up, giving her a brief kiss. They both froze, this was the first time they had a real kiss. Sweet pea didn’t mean to kiss her on the lips, he meant it for her check. Slowly they got up, brushing snow off of each other and agreeing to quickly finish before going indoors.

# ______

“Hi baby” Echo said picking her daughter up. Toni and another serpent, along with Jellybean watched all the younger kids while everyone else done different jobs. Sage was the only serpent baby, the next youngest was a ten-year-old boy.

“How was she?” Echo asked smiling.

Toni smiled. “She’s been great, hardly a peep from her.”

The brunette sighed, she was glad Sage didn’t scream the building down but it was frustrating. Her daughters seemed to be reserving all her cries just for her, “Thanks Toni.”

Echo smiled taking her baby into the room they had been staying in. Sweet pea was getting changed, she frowned when she saw he was trying to change his bandages himself. He had hid the fact a ghoulie had stabbed him in the side, the only reason she knew was because Fangs told her.

Echo placed Sage into her cot, before walking over to him. “Here let me help” she said gently taking off the old one. It was covered in dried blood, he probably would have gotten stitches if they had gone to a hospital. Their main goal was making sure it didn’t get infected as they were running low on antibiotics.

“Thanks.” He said in a low voice, he turned to face her. They just stood staring at each other for a few moments, his brown eyes gazing into her gray ones. Sweet pea was much taller than her, he leaned down and placed his lips softly against Echos. They continued kissing until they pulled away to catch their breaths. Did they need to talk about this? They probably should.

Knocking at the door interrupted both of them before either could say anything. “Jug wanted us all to talk.”

Echo pulled some chairs down that had been stacked in a corner, while sweet pea let them in. It was an unspoken rule to never just walk into a room someone was staying in.

Sweet pea, Jughead, Echo, Toni, Fangs, and FP now all sat in a circle talking, as FP held Sage in his arms. It had been so long since he had held a baby, he had made a promise to protect Sage as if she was one of his own grandkids. That was the kind of loyalty that would keep the serpents alive.

“So you think we have a rat?” Toni asked in a whisper. It was safer for them all to talk in quieter voices, they didn’t know who could be listening.

Jughead nodded. “Someone gave Penny the heads up, and it wasn’t Molly she was gone before we were even talking about it.”

It was a worrying thought, that serpents betraying each other was becoming a common thing. They still had to deal with surviving during their towns isolation from the rest of the world. They couldn’t be stabbing each other in the back.

Fangs shifted uncomfortably, “So what's the plan?”

“When we find a way to leave, we do it in small groups. Too many of us disappearing at once will draw attention. Plus we need to wait until the snow starts to melt.” Jughead stated, he would also need to figure out who was working with Penny, he couldn’t risk bringing them along.

“Jug you could take a few people with you, find a safe way and signal for the rest of us to come. I’d hold the fort here.” FP said, still smiling fondly at the tiny baby in his arms.

“I’d be better leaving last, someone would notice Sage’s screams suddenly stopping. Plus you’d need to find somewhere for us to stay.” Echo said, Jughead nodded in agreement.

After talking for a few more hours, they came up with a plan to see who would ‘rat them out’ they would simply make things up and tell them to different people, and wait to see who talked. Hopefully by the time they figured it out the snow would have started to melt, they wouldn’t risk Sage getting sick in the cold.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter ahead, smut warning.

The room seemed smaller than usual with Sweet pea inside it. Restless, he stalked around the small room that was once the schools nurses office, examining its contents. Echo rolled her eyes. Of course, he wouldn't think to ask what things they were to look for before rifling through them. The bag's and belongs had either been stolen, or ‘gifted’ to them from the Northside. “While you’re here, can you pass me that bag over. I think some of our stuff for mixed up.”

Sweet pea nodded and handed her the dirty snake print bag. Looking through a box, he picked up a particular dusty framed picture, squinted at it. "Is this FP with you?"

"Yes," she replied. Echo pulled off one of her shoes, the ones she had been wearing were two sizes to small for her. "That was taken three years ago I think."

"You guys seem pretty close, huh?"

"Yeah” She shrugged. “He's always been there for me. I wouldn't be the same person...actually, I wouldn't be alive without him."

"Guess I should thank him," Sweet pea said, setting the picture back down. He turned and looked around the room with measured eyes. He had been so self-absorbed at the time he never even knew his friend needed help.

"I should thank you, too," Echo said softly. "You saved my life more times than I can count. Without you, I wouldn't have escaped from that hellish boyfriend of mine."

Sweet pea let out a bark of laughter. "Look, you saved me as well, let's get that straight. You have bailed me out any time you can, even if I am in the wrong."

Echo smiled, her head tilted to one side. "Thanks anyway."

He smiled tersely, then cast another look around the room. "You’d thinking’s saving the world business would pay all right?” he said throwing ripped and ruined items into a pile into a corner of the room.

"We will never have enough as we would want, but it's not all bad," she quipped. Sweet pea looked at her sharply. 

"You'd be shocked. You really would," he said, "but this is little dull after the adrenaline rush of running away from guards trying to fight us, ghoulies trying to kill us."

"Ah. You're missing that, aren’t you?" She waited, then, taking his silence as a answer. Things between them had been slightly awkward, for some reason he had been slightly off with her. It was driving Echo crazy. “Look, sweet pea, I like you. And if you don’t feel the same way about me.." She was blushing now, "But I understand that we're not going to date like regular people, and this makes for an odd lifestyle. And you…you're the only good thing I have apart my daughter." 

Sweet pea regarded her with narrowed eyes. "Wait just a fucking second. You’ve waited all this time, just to tell me we're never going to be together?" He laughed bitterly. "I knew I should have seen this coming.” He was crazy to think she would even feel that way about him.

"No, that's not what I meant," she said, voice rising. "I like you, and I—I'm attracted to you. I trust you with my life. But we're so fucked up. But–"

"But what, Echo?" He was pacing now. "I'm not good enough for you? Why'd you–"

"No, I think you're amazing, I just wanted you to know that I'm not expecting–"

His face shifted from anger to bemusement as the compliment registered. "–if you didn't—wait, thank you very much. But what do you mean, 'you're not expecting,' what are you talking about? I'm not any good at this girly stuff–" he was confused at what she was trying to tell him. Did she really think he would fuck her and dump her?

"Maybe if you'd just _shut up_ for half a second, you'd get it, Sweet pea!" she shouted. Hopefully nobody else was around to hear them argue. 

"Fine, your highness. The floor is yours." He said in a mocking tone.

Echo clenched her fists in frustration. "It's just, you said before you never wanted to screw things up between us, and I don't want you to worry about it. The two of us aren't exactly in a traditional dating situation, but I'm okay with that. I just...I want to be with you while I can, while you're here. Because tomorrow you might not be, we have both lost far too many people to not believe it." Echo was now staring at the ground. 

The truth was she loved him. In a fucked up excuse of a world she had fallen in love with her best friend, but he didn’t feel that way about her. So Echo thought it was best not to revile how deep her feelings went.

Sweet pea blinked in surprise, Echo bit her lip and looked at the floor again. "You want to be with me how?" he asked carefully. "You want to hang out and talk, share old battle stories like best friends do? Or by be with me," he turned to look at her, taking a step forward, "do you mean you want me to kiss you again?"

"Yes." Her voice was a whisper.

"Which one?"

"I want you to kiss me" she said softly.

His face immediately lit up, but closed down into a guarded expression as he folded his arms and took a step back. “While you're here,'" he quoted back at her in a high-pitched squeak she assumed was meant to mimic her own voice. "Echo," he went on disbelievingly, "are you trying to set up some no-strings-attached fuck buddy thing with me? Am I just some shame fuck to get with and get–"

"No, God, Sweet pea, don't you ever listen to any–"

"What do you want from me?" he broke in impatiently. "Just tell me what you want."

"I like you, I want to be with you, and I want to sleep with you!" she shouted, then clapped a hand over her mouth at her own audacity. That wasn’t how she planned on telling him at all. 

"Really?" he asked seriously. She nodded. "Well fuck, Echo. Why didn't you say so in the first place?" 

"You–" she stepped forward and opened her mouth to retort, but he was already there.

He slammed her back against the wall hard enough to rattle the boxes. His lips were on hers, forcing her mouth open, kissing hungrily, aggressively, as he reached inside her coat. One strong hand held her in place, thumb hooked under her arm, while the other traveled down her waist to feel the curve of her hip, around to cup her bottom. He pushed her thighs apart with his leg, eliciting a surprised squeak. Using his leverage under her arms, he suddenly hoisted her up higher on the wall, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist. He slid one hand under her bottom to support her weight, and reached up to twine the fingers of his other hand through her hair. He stroked her cheekbone with his thumb as he kissed just underneath her jawline, then trailed down her neck with soft touches of his lips, so unlike the demanding kisses from a moment before. Sweet pea kissed her neck tenderly, tested it with his teeth, then bit her hard enough to make her cry out and wriggle against him. From now on, Sweet pea would consider this to be their first real kiss.

Echo gripped his shoulders as he hoisted her higher and moved on to kissing her breasts through the fabric of her flannel shirt and bra. She balanced with one hand on his shoulder while she raked the other through his hair. He made a low, guttural noise and started licking her breasts through the gap in her shirt. “Sweet pea,” she breathed, shoving her hand under the collar of his leather jacket and digging her nails into his back. “I want to touch you,” she breathed. He scanned her eyes, bit her gently on the chin. With a nod of assent, he lowered her to the floor.

When Echo was safely back on her feet, still pressed between the wall and his body, Sweet pea ran his hands up her sides and neck to hold her face, pressing his lips to the top of her head. She put her hands under his jacket, but he stopped her, seizing her wrists. “Wait." He stepped back a pace “are you sure you want this? I won’t mind if you change your mind.”

Echo nodded “I want **you** , she said watching as he removed his serpent jacket. The buttons at the neck of his shirt were undone, revealing his collarbone. She licked her lips, then blushed when she realized he was watching her stare. He reached for her. “No, here,” she ordered, pushing him away from the wall. His eyes glinted with amusement at her attempt to physically try, and push him onto the nurses bed.

Sitting down, He her next to him. Sweet pea kissed her like a starving man offered food. She was soft under his touch—skin, hair, lips— Echo was pulling him closer on top of her now, spreading her legs to grind against him. Goddamn, who would've thought they would have ended up like this? Those long legs—had been in his mind for some time. Now they were wrapped around him, Echo moaning against his mouth as he kissed her. This might be a mistake, but there was no going back now, not with her writhing underneath him, he would have just been happy with her kissing him back. 

"Kiss me” she begged.

“What?" Sweet pea was lost in the scent of her skin, the feel of her warm breasts beneath his hands. At some point his hand ripped her shirt fully open, causing some buttons to fall off.

"Kiss me!"

"I am” he said.

"No, kiss me," she insisted, wriggling to reach his mouth or drag him to hers.

"Always with the demands," he chided, but—smirking—he complied, while pulling her jeans down.

After long minutes of kissing, licking, sucking and tasting, Echo felt maddened with lust. She pushed her pelvis into Sweet pea, straining to grind against the bulge in his pants. He snaked an arm beneath her and sat up, pulling her along with him. Straddling him, she gasped, feeling his erection press up against her panties. She rocked her hips, rubbing her sensitive flesh against his hardness. He groaned and ran his hands up her body to twine in her hair, then kissed her jaw, working his way up to nip at her ear. She gasped and pressed up against him, wrapped him closer in her arms. His breath against her ear ignited little lightning bolts across her skin. She kissed the top of his ear very lightly, then, before she could second-guess herself, tested it with her teeth. 

Sweet pea made a very masculine sound low in his throat and found her mouth with his own, crushing her to his kiss with one hand at the nape of her neck, the other low on her back. Echo might have been shocked at the intensity with which she reacted to his body, but the taste of his mouth had her long past the point of self-consciousness. He kissed her thoroughly, hungrily, hands roaming over her body, then pulled back to look her in the eye. 

"May I?" His voice was low; his hands were at the straps on her bra.

"Yes," she nodded.

He cupped her breasts in his hands, pressing his mouth against her soft flesh. Fuck, he'd never had his hands on a nicer pair of tits. He ran his thumbs over her nipples, flexing his groin in a pang of arousal as she shuddered. Touching her bare skin sent an electric jolt up his spine. She was smooth, pale; her skin was flawless, as though she'd never known an injury. With his eyes on her face, he ran a hand up her back and paused at her bra clasp, looked at her questioningly. For the first time since he'd kissed her. He hesitated, Echo kissed him on the forehead and nodded, that was all the encouragement he needed to rip it off and throw it the hell out of the way. God, she was gorgeous. He lowered his mouth to her right breast, rolling her left nipple between his fingers.

Echo gasped as his lips touched her sensitive skin, writhed in his lap when he sucked her nipple into his mouth. His right hand teased her left breast, stroking, squeezing, pulling gently at her nipple. She could feel his erection hot and hard between her legs, and stifled a moan as she felt his teeth against her breast. She felt dizzy with the unlikeliness of this scenario, overwhelmed with sensation and half disbelieving that this was really happening: she was half-naked straddling Sweet pea. He sucked at each of her nipples in turn, until she cried out. His hands were greedy on her body. "Sweet pea!" Her voice was high-pitched, urgent. 

He made a low noise and sucked hard at her breast before pulling back to meet her eyes. She seized his face in her hands and kissed his lips, moaning against his mouth as he pulled her closer in a possessive grasp. The rough touch of his calloused fingertips against her skin felt better than anything. His breath, his smell, the solid warmth of his body—it was life to Echo. She wanted more. Scooting back on his lap, she grabbed his belt buckle to unhook it. 

"Whoa, wait," Sweet pea said, voice deeper than usual. Echo pouted at him, she would die of embarrassment if he changed his mind. "God, it's not that I don't want to, babe- you’ve just had a baby. I don’t want to hurt you." To his surprise, her lips curved up into a smile. 

"Come on," she said, crawling backward off his lap to stand. Sweet pea watched her, transfixed by the motion of her breasts swaying as she moved. Her eyes were huge and inviting, her lips were pink from kissing him and parted slightly. Fuck it, what else was she going to do? He watched her rummaging in her own jacket pocket for something. Echo rummaged inside, then threw something back across the room to Sweet pea. He snatched it out of the air with one hand, looked at the gold foil wrapper for a long moment before looking back at Echo. His eyes were narrow. 

"Why do you carry these on you?" he asked. 

"Toni gave me them...I gave birth nine weeks ago, you won’t hurt me" she said smiling at him. She stood facing him in nothing but green panties. "What?" she said, glancing up to see his expression. 

“You look amazing.” He unhooked his belt buckle with his left hand, sharp lines of muscle ran from his hips down toward his groin. He had several scars on his arms and torso, and a scattering of bruises over his body. Echo took a shaky breath, suddenly intimidated by the electric aura of muscle and power that emanated from the man standing over her. But she wanted this. She'd asked for this. Echo slowly sat back onto the nurses bed, laying back she pulled her underwear off.

Sweet pea. Smiled down at her, the barest upturn of one corner of his mouth, and she couldn't help but smile shyly back. At that, he grabbed her legs and flipped her from her hip onto her bottom, spreading her wide open to face him. Watching her, he put two fingers in his mouth, then reached down between her legs. Echo jumped slightly as he touched her, arching back against the bed. His eyes on her face were hungry as he slid his fingers inside her. She inhaled sharply, feeling simultaneously reckless and vulnerable. His fingertips lit up nerve endings she'd never known, shooting little lightning bolts up her spine, hardening her nipples. He brushed her clit with his thumb, and she jerked back, her body was so sensitive. She clutched at the paper bedsheet as he slid his fingers slowly in and out between her lips. "Sweet pea," she whispered pleadingly, "please."

He slid his fingers out and stroked the length of her vulva with torturous slowness before kicking his boxers off. Echo got a brief glimpse of his cock, long and thick, and then the condom was on. He crawled up over her, pushing her down on her back. Holding his weight on his hands, he leaned down to kiss her, tasting her mouth deeply with his tongue as he positioned himself between her legs. He moved up slightly and kissed her temple as he slid into her. “I’ll ask one more time, are you sure about this?”

“Yes, now please fuck me.” Echo answered sweetly, earning a grin from the man above her.

Her upper thighs trembled as her body welcomed the intrusion. He filled her up delightfully, driving out everything but sensation, scent, and an overpowering lust she'd never felt before. She ran her hands over his body as he fucked her, feeling the raw power, the hard muscles, the scars and the hot skin so different from her own. She clutched at his hips with her legs, moving her hips to rub against him as he thrust into her. Sweet pea growled softly, as she gasped as he slammed into her, his pelvis colliding hard against her swollen lips. He pushed up on his arms, and she looked down to watch his muscles bunch and stretch as he fucked her. She clenched violently with pleasure at the sight of his cock moving in and out of her body. Carefully, Echo moved her right hand between her legs to find her clit. She moaned softly as she touched herself, but Sweet pea suddenly stopped moving.

"Hey," he said sharply. "I'm the one fucking you here. Put your hands over your head."

"Wha–"

"Over your head. Cross your wrists," he said impatiently. Pulling back, he gripped her hips and yanked her to the edge of the bed. He stood and ran his hands up her legs, licked her left ankle before propping her feet up on his shoulders. He shot a pointed look at her hands, reminding her to hastily cross her arms above her head. Sweet pea looked down at her in apparent satisfaction, then worked his way back into her. When he was sheathed completely inside her, he placed both of his thumbs on her clit and then, as he thrust into her again, began to stroke. 

It was harder for Echo to hold her hands still above her head than she would have dreamed. She was dying to have her hands all over him.

After a few minutes of thrusting and rubbing, of his hard dick sliding over her most intimate muscles, Echo’s legs suddenly started to shake. "Fuck," she gasped, panicky, "Sweet pea, Fuck–" He continued to stroke her clit mercilessly, a wolfish grin forming on his face as he moved. She wriggled helplessly, certain she could take no more, and then suddenly orgasm shattered her body around him. 

Echo screamed as her vaginal muscles fluttered and gripped around Sweet pea, anchoring her to a single point in space as her mind exploded in blinding waves of sensation. As the overwhelming force of orgasm finally slowed and released her, she came back to her senses just in time to look up at Sweet pea as—with a low moan—he thrust into her for one last time and came sheathed inside her body…which set her off again.

By the time she could speak again, Sweet pea had kissed the arch of her foot, slipped out of her, walking towards to the bin to clean himself up. Lazily, Echo admired his nude body as he sauntered towards her again. 

"You're right, you shouldn’t expect anything from me," he said finally. “I have nothing to give you. It's just…the thought of you with anyone else that isn’t me. I love you and always have, but I’m not good enough for you.”

"Sweet pea," Echo said, and waited for him to turn and look at her. She smiled. "Quit it. You can be stupid and stubborn at times-" 

He glared, but his face softened as his eyes lingered on her. He walked to the bed and reached out to stroke her hair roughly, running his palm over her cheek. His eyes narrowed. “Not the best time for insults babe.” Sweet pea said cutting her off.

"You big fool, I love you too. You are more than enough...” Echo stopped taking when she caught her reflection of herself in a broken mirror sticking out of one of the boxes. “Did you give me a hicky?” She asked pissed.

"Yeah, several," he replied, his eyes moving slowly over her neckline down to her chest. "Damn, I didn’t realize how big they were."

"Why?" she frowned, but his eyes gleamed wickedly.

“Because I wanted others to know you are mine, even if you turned me away. Now we have both said we love each other nothing such stop us from being together.” Sweet pea felt nervous, he wasn’t used to confessing his feeling.

“So are we really a couple?” Echo had to ask. She couldn’t believe it, in a world that was burning to ground she had a new baby, and just had sex with someone she had been in love with for years.

"Do you want me?" Sweet pea demanded, voice low in her ear.

"Ye-yes!"

"You like the way I feel inside you?"

"Yes," she breathed shaking her head. She was trying to have a serious conversation, and he was hard again.

"You want me inside you again?"

"Do you want to be inside me again?" she purred, arching to rub herself against his swollen cock.

"I asked you first," he responded casually, belying the throb of desire.

"Yes, please; please fuck me," she panted, voice straining. "Do you want to fuck me?"

He shifted forward, his tongue flicking over the inner rim of her ear. "More than anything in the world, but only as your boyfriend." 

Echo grinned as she pulled him towards her for a kiss. It would have been a special moment between them if they never got interrupted.

“Guy! Oh uh” Fangs quickly turned his back to his friends, he could hear them frantically getting dressed. He was happy for them, it was about time they got together. However, he could have done without seeing them naked.

“Is sage okay?!” Echo asked worried.

Fangs nodded, even though neither of them could see him. “Yeah she’s fine.”

“Jesus, have you not learned to knock yet. What is it Fogarty?” Sweet pea asked pulling up his jeans, which was painfully giving he was still hard.

Fangs cleared his throat. “Jughead is looking for us. Just come up once your ready” he said before quickly leaving the room.

Sweet pea and Echo shared a knowing look, Fangs was being vague. Something was wrong, they just weren’t sure what yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies in advance: I’ve just noticed that for some reason Echo keeps changing to Sherry on my phone


	9. Chapter 9

“Just spit it out Jones, I want to leave this creepy hellhole soon as possible” Sweet pea huffed. Jughead had asked him and Fangs to meet in the school's basement. It was dark, dusty, and damp. They were standing round an old chipped wooden table, with rusted patio chairs.

“We have a problem. Apparently a few infected have escaped the red zone ‘hospital’...also I’ve heard whispers. A few of the newer serpents think that I have been playing favorites...and they it’s dangerous having a baby in the building. They want her gone.” Jughead explained. This was serious, serpents turning on each other was the last thing anyone needed.

“What the fuck! How is Sage a threat to anyone? Who are these people? I want names. I swear to god Jones you better not throw Echo out, or I will personally kill you!” Sweet pea threatened him, as Fangs stood gobsmacked, he had never seen his friend turn such a bright shade of red before. “Is this why you wouldn’t let Echo come? She doesn’t even know what people are saying? Fuck the lot of them” sweet pea hissed.

Jughead sighed frustrated, he had attempted to cut in a few times but was ignored. Sweet pea was terrible for assuming the worst. Never in a million years would Jughead Jones abandoned one of his own, however that didn’t mean others wouldn’t.

“What are you going to do about it?” Fangs asked calmly. Out of all of them he was the most level-headed out of the serpents, sure he used to be a bit erratic at time, but he had become smarter. Fangs knew when to react and when not too, and yelling in a basement wouldn’t do any good.

“I think we need guns” Sweet pea said shrugging, the anger weeping from his voice. “What? You want to be unarmed when a bunch of infected come crawling? Because I fucking don’t.” He was pissed and poorly hiding it.

“I think you’re right. I think we need to protect ourselves, which brings me to our other point.” Jughead sighed before sitting down. “We have already talked about leaving, I suggest we start planning it soon as possible. But we need to be discreet, not everyone is coming with us.”

“What?!” Sweet pea snapped, his voice was dangerously aggressive. “Who are you planning on leaving Jones?”

“I’m not sure yet, whoever wants to betray us. That’s why we need to keep a low profile until I say otherwise. We need to watch each other’s backs, Penny was smart last time, too smart.” They nodded in agreement. It turns out the ‘rat’ was in fact a kid, who Penny had scared into sharing information.

Sweet pea clenched his fists. They had far too many threats at once. Penny was dangerous. An infected person was extremely dangerous. The virus starts of with flu like symptoms, then a few different things might happen once caught the virus. You could get better, die, or the virus would spread to into the brain, causing you to go insane. This was extremely dangerous territory for all of them. Also, other serpents wanting to turn on their own didn’t help.

# ______

Toni had asked Jughead if they could talk in private, it seemed serious, so he went right away. She apparently had information that might help him, whatever that meant.

Fangs and Sweet pea talked about how Toni had been acting strange the last few days, she was hiding something from them. As they walked up the staircase to the second floor they could hear screeching noise, shortly followed by Echo’s raised voice.

**_“You fucking bitch!”_ **

The two men sprinted down to the old art room, Sweet pea flung the door open. They were both surprised to see Echo standing in front of Sage’s crib protectively, with blood dripping down her cheek. Molly was on her ass on the ground. Her red hair was ruffled, and she had a swollen lip and eye appearing.

Bike words flowed from the redheads mouth fast that she never thought she'd even think, let alone say out loud. She knew instantly from the look in Echo’s eyes that they'd hit their mark. The minute Molly had made a comment about the baby she knew herself that she had crossed a line, but that didn’t stop Echo from smacking her across the face. Molly had got one good slap in before she stumbled and accidentally almost knocked the crib over, causing Echo to practically pounce on her.

“What the fuck is going on?” Fangs demanded looking between the two women.

“Ask her!” Echo pointed at the redhead while panting, “that crazy bitch came in here and almost threw Sage out her crib.”

Both men turned their glare to Molly, who just looked up at them and shrugged. “It was an accident.”

“What are you doing here anyway?” Sweet pea hissed. If it wasn’t for the fact he didn’t believe in hitting a woman, he would have dealt with Molly himself.

“I actually came by to warn the serpents, the Ghoulie who stabbed you are planning on attacking Jughead tonight.” She spat before standing up.

“Get the fuck out!” Echo said clicking her tongue. She didn’t believe her, Molly was a liar and would say anything to cause trouble.

The redhead scoffed, she left the room and slammed the door behind her. Leaving all three serpents confused as to why she was even there in the first place.

“That was random.” Fangs said as Sweet pea ran to Echo’s side. Molly's ring had cut her cheek, it was still bleeding.

Echo looked about the room, something was off she just knew it. “We need another serpent meeting, like right now!” was all she said before picking a crying Sage up.

Fangs gave Sweet pea a confused look, Sweet pea just shrugged in return. He didn’t know what his new girlfriend was thinking about, but he was enjoying seeing her feisty side more than he should.

# ______

“You think she’s bugged us?” FP asked raising an eyebrow, he was afraid that Echo was going stir crazy. He thought motherhood along with everything that was going on, the pressure had gone to her head. He noticed the doubtful looks on the other serpents faces.

Jughead at the request of Echo had gathered their small group to meet in the basement again, which he even thought was uncalled-for but went along with it.

“She got in and out without anybody noticing.” Echo was getting more pissed as the moments passed. She had also noticed the doubtful looks on all their faces, they didn’t believe her. Echo sighed shaking her head, and pulled out a small objects from her jacket pocket and slammed it onto the table.

“What are they?” Fangs asked holding the object up.

“That is a camera Forgarty, the same kind you get in a nanny cam. I found one in the art room, and two in the hallway. I bet if we searched the other rooms we would find more.” Echo said in a matter of fact tone, she was mad. She didn’t care the others didn’t believe her, but it bothered her that Sweet pea didn’t.

The atmosphere was awkward. They had been wrong, and now they all felt guilty. Nobody thought Echo was stupid or crazy, but they did think she was exhausted and slightly paranoid. The only noise in the room was Sage fussing, she was getting tired quickly.

Toni watched as Echo shuffled the baby between her arms, she looked uncomfortable. “Do you want one of us to hold her if your arms are getting sore?” She offered.

“No, I’m fine.” Echo answered staring at the table. Her mind was running at a million miles per hour, Echo was so scared that Molly was going to hurt her baby, she was refusing to let Sage out of her sight again.

Jughead shared a glance with Toni, both their attention then turned to Sweet pea. He had been unusually quit, usually he would have shared his input by now. He cleared his throat, “What do you guys think we should do now?”

“I think we need to get the fuck out of here Jones, this place isn’t safe.” Sweet pea finally spoke.

“Funny you should say that.” Jughead said glancing at Toni again, “I might have another place for us to go.”

“Cheryl Blossom has offered us shelter...” Toni added. The blossom girl was her ex-girlfriend, they had ended right before they got split up into zones. Luckily for her it was on good terms, and the Blossom family was extremely rich and had more than one mansion close by.

“She has offered the serpents jobs.” Jughead corrected. There seemed to be tension between himself and Toni that was now obvious to everyone else.

“What’s the job?” Fangs asked, as Jughead shook his head at him.

“They have a few different jobs...”

“Slaves. They need a cook, maid, gardener.” Jughead said in a sarcastic tone.

“Jug this isn’t about your issues towards the Southside, She is different. And she doesn’t need those things, what Cheryl said was she needed help to look after two babies and her grandmother” Toni glared at him.

“She has babies?” Echo asked surprised.

Toni nodded her head “It’s a long story but Cheryl has twin niece and nephew. It’s a warm big house guys, I think we would be crazy to pass this up. And for the record, only a handful of us would need to work for them. They would stay in the main house, while the other serpents are more than welcome to stay in the guest house.”

“I think we would sleep on it, then take a vote in the morning.” FP said standing up.

# ______

“What do you think?” Sweet pea asked Echo. They were now alone, back in the art room.

The brunette just shrugged as she shrugged Sage in.

He sighed kicking off his boots “I’m sorry okay. I should have believed you, but the way you said it sounded pretty insane the first time.” He waited for echo to respond, but she didn’t. “Hey, what’s wrong?” 

Echo spun round and hugged him, she was crying. “I really thought she was going to fall out her crib and hit the ground.” The brunette sobbed, her heart was racing, while her body shook. “Sorry I’m just being stupid” she said pulling back.

“What do you want to do? If you want to go to thistle house, we will go.” He was serious. Sweet pea would follow her wherever she went.

“I’d happily scrub a bunch of snobs bathrooms if it meant I gave Sage a better chance.” Echo said staring into his brown eyes, “What do you want to do?”

He pondered for a moment. “I think it would be safer for us all. We are running out of supplies here, plus there would be less chance of infected roaming around. I’d need to speak to Jones first. I’ll be back soon babe.”

Echo just nodded before getting changed for bed, she was done in for the night. She would sleep better knowing there were serpents guarding each door, FP had thought it would be for the best just in case any ghoulies turned up.


	10. Chapter 10

_“So what are you saying?” The pink haired serpent asked confused, Sweet pea had come by her room to make her an offer._

_“I’m saying, if you do this for me I’ll go to thistle house with you regardless of what Jones says. I’ll even take all the blame.” Sweet pea clarified._

_“What about Echo? How would she feel about this?” The last thing Toni wanted to do was cause some kind of argument among their group, she had already pissed of Jughead._

_Sweet pea sighed “her and Sage are the reason I’m doing this. So are you in or not?” He didn’t have time to waste, they would need to move fast._

“Well you’ve got a set of balls on you, I’ll give you that. Showing up here, like this. I have got to say Sweet pea a sly man like you could have been useful.” Penny said in an arrogant tone, with a smirk across her face.

It didn’t take them long to find her. Penny had been crashing in an abandoned house, she also had a handful of ghoulies staying with her. She wasn’t stupid, and knew it would be dangerous to live alone.

“We’re here to make a deal with you.” Sweet pea said raising his hands to show he had no weapons on him. Toni on the other hand did, she had her pocket knife ready just in case things turned sour.

Even in the dark they could see Penny shaking her head letting out a dark laugh. “What deal could you possibly make” she scoffed, “don’t tell me you came all this way to beg for scraps.” The surrounding ghoulies began laughing as well.

“We found the weapons you left.” Sweet pea spoke loudly enough every one of them could hear him. His comment caught Penny’s attention. “We make a deal, and I’ll give you them back.”

“What makes you think I won’t just kill you and take them?”

“Because you would never find them. No other gang would trade with you, so you better shut up and listen to what we have to say.” Toni added glaring at her.

Penny nodded for them to continue. She couldn’t tell if it was just the two of them or not, it would be risky to try anything in case they got ambushed. After her previous run-ins with the serpents, she knew they couldn’t be trusted.

Toni cleared her throat. “We drop them off as monthly supply to you, but only if you keep that redheaded bitch away from us. That’s it no tricks.”

Penny looked at Kurtz and then back at the two serpents, she eyed them suspiciously before stepping forward. “That’s it? I find that hard to believe.”

“You know what I can’t believe? You scared a child into telling you information, and spying on us is one thing but sending someone in to attack us? I swear if any of your gang of creeps tries that again I will personally kill them.” Sweet pea hissed.

“Nobody touched your precious little gang of snakes!” The ex serpent rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Toni shook her head in disbelief. “Are you really going to stand there and lie to us? Why the fuck was Molly in our building trying to attack Echo and her baby? I wonder who put her up to that.”

Penny scowled, “are you sure it was Molly?” She asked staring directly at Sweet pea, he nodded in response. She cursed under her breath before marching towards sweet pea. Penny was now standing toe to toe with him, “how do I know you aren’t lying?”

“That shiner on Molly’s face? Echo gave it to her.” Sweet pea said in a low voice.

“Is the baby okay?” Penny asked in a whisper. She wasn’t even aware Echo had given birth, Penny was horrified. The young brunette had always been off limits, she had done some fucked up things but harming an infant wasn’t one of them.

It was no secret that Penny had an affair with Echo’s father, during that time she had grown to care for his daughter. When he left town Penny turned sour, she began drug dealing as a way to make extra cash. A few years later she crossed Jughead and got exiled from the gang. Even after everything she always had a soft spot for Echo, it didn’t stop her from wanting to bring the serpents down, but she would never allow anyone to physically hurt her.

Sweet pea paused for a moment before speaking, he had to choose his worlds carefully. “The baby is fine, no thanks to Molly. She almost knocked the cot over, with the baby in it after Echo caught her snooping.”

“I’ll keep Molly on a tighter leash if you bring the goods once a month.”

# ______

“At lest the rain is melting the snow” Fangs said sighing. The stormy weather had come on quickly, the wind was so strong it was making the windows rattle. He was currently sitting on a mattress in the old art room.

“That’s always a positive.” Echo said frowning, she was staring at the faint yellow marks on her friends body. “How’s the hand?” She asked feeling guilty. In labor, she had practically crushed Fangs hand causing it to bruise badly.

“It’s fine now.” he chuckled, “trust me I’ve had worse” he added once he saw her doubtful look. She had apologized countless times, even though he never thought anything of it. The pain in his hand wouldn’t have been anything compared to what she would have been feeling at the time. “What do you think will happen now?” He asked changing the subject.

“I’ve no idea.”

Sweet pea and Jughead came to blows in the early hours of the morning. The two serpents only filled the rest of their friends in on their meeting with Penny after they came back, causing Jughead to go on a rant about loyalty for nearly two hours. It wasn’t until FP stepped in things cooled down. Echo was annoyed at first, but after hearing Sweet pea out she understood why he done it. She just hoped he realized he was now playing with fire, if the guards caught him they would probably take him away or kill him.

“I’m not sure. I just...I feel there’s something I don’t know. Something is going on but I’m not sure what.” Echo placed Sage back into her cot.

Fangs had noticed how sad his friend was, and he knew what she was talking about. Nobody had told her directly that a few other serpents had wanted Echo to leave because they thought it was dangerous to have a baby around, but he was sure she had heard whispers by now. Jughead said he had plans on how to deal with that as well. He just hoped somebody would give the brunette a heads up before the meeting that night.

“I think we should get packing for the road uncle Forgarty.” Echo smiled weakly.

# ______

The schools small assembly hall was packed, it was full of tired and frustrated serpents. Jughead had called an emergency meeting, much to the displeasure of others.

Things had gotten off to a rough start, apparently a lot of people thought the ‘king’ had favorites, and had let them off the hook for things he wouldn’t with others. Everyone’s anger and frustrations seemed to be all coming out at once. He had made the mistake of asking what people’s concerns were. He was expecting them to be about the infected, or ghoulies. Not serpents turning on each other.

_‘Sweet pea was going to help Molly get guns! He should have been exiled along with her!’_

_‘You should have killed Molly when you had the chance!’_

_‘This place isn’t safe with a screaming baby here! If any an infected comes nearby they will head straight for us.’_

_‘They are traitors. They made a deal with the devil now we all need to pay! I say we throw them out!’_

_‘Your goddamn friends are always breaking the serpent code! Leave them here to rot!’_

Jughead sighed, it was the same people who had been screeching and harping on for the past hour, mostly a serpent name Skye. She had been a headache to him at the last few meetings. Nothing had been resolved. He looked to his dad for help, truthfully he was out his depth. Before the outbreak Jughead was able to lead them, however with so many serpents dying, running away, and new recruits it was now a lot harder to maintain control.

FP walked up beside him. “Alright, I think we have all heard enough. Nobody among us is a saint, and I can assure you Sweet pea and Toni were only trying to help. However, they will be punished for going about it the wrong way.”

Echo lightly elbowed Sweet pea as he let out a loud groan. He thought this meeting was pointless, and they should have thanked him. He had sorted the Molly problem. Jones did have a point that Sweet pea should have told him beforehand, but he would never have gone along with it.

Jughead cleared his throat, he looked slightly nervous. “You are right, I haven’t been fair recently...” he glanced at his friends who all looked confused. “All in favor of throwing a young mother and her baby out raise you’re hands.”

“What the fuck Jones!” Sweet pea yelled horrified. The only reason he hadn’t jumped on stag was because he was being held back.

Even FP was surprised by his son’s question. Fangs, Toni, and a raging Sweet pea all looked horrified, while Echo seemed unfazed. FP smirked a little noticing this, his boy would have something up his sleeve. He always did.

Jughead shook his head as five serpents raised their hands, no surprise to him it was the same ones who had been yelling before. The gang's loyalty wasn’t what it used to be. If they were willing to this to an innocent child, they would have no problem turning on the elderly or sick. The only way they would all survive was by sticking together.

“I don’t know why she’s even here. I’m not dying because of a bastard child’s screaming!” Skye said looking directly at Echo, who just smirked back at her. Skye’s comment had gained a few tuts and gasps from the older serpents in the room.

“All five of you take off your jackets and go.” Jughead said sternly, he watched as they reluctantly removed them.

“Where are we meant to go?”

“Go wherever you want tonight, you can return tomorrow once we have left. To everybody else who is still here, if any of you have a problem with how I run things this is you’re chance to get out now. I will not turn my back on anyone.”

The room was silent, the only noise was the dismissed serpents swearing and grunting in the hallway as the left the building.

Jughead sighed. “Everyone should get their stuff ready, we leave at first light tomorrow.”


	11. Chapter 11

“How are you doing?” Sweet pea asked Echo concerned.

He was currently carrying a sleeping Sage in his arms, as Echo was too weak. Sweet pea was worried his girlfriend was going to pass out, she looked terrible.

“I’m fine pea.” Echo said smiling weakly.

Sweet pea frowned, he didn’t believe her. Jones had followed through and had managed to get them out without getting noticed by any guards. However, they couldn’t slow down. It wouldn’t take the guards or the ghoulies long to notice they were gone.

“We don’t have much further to go!” Toni shouted looking back at her friends. She didn’t like the look of Echo either, the pink haired serpent had noticed how pale and sweaty her friend had gone.

“Jones?” Sweet pea said loudly stopping in his tracks.

Jughead walked towards him slightly confused, “what’s going on? We can’t hang around.”

“Take Sage, and guard her with your life.” Sweet pea said sternly handing the tiny baby in his arm over to Jughead, and quickly turned towards Echo. In one quick move he lifted her up and carried her the rest of the way into his arm.

“Make sure she’s covered.” Sweet pea said pouting.

Jughead tried not smirk. It had started raining, so he was holding Sage against the inside of his jacket to protect her from the bad weather, but of course Sweet pea was still worried. He glanced back over at the taller serpent, Echo looked almost limp in his arms.

“This is it!” Toni yelled running towards a massive house.

# ______

A few hours after arriving, and officially meeting the Blossom the serpents started to get settled in to their new home.

Nana Rose had the only bedroom downstairs, and Toni had agreed to help Cheryl care for her grandmother. While Echo was to help look after the twins, Sweet pea, Fangs, and Jughead would be ‘handymen’ for all the buildings on thistle house property. FP and the other serpents would do a few different jobs like laundry, or look after Nana Roses greenhouse.

“Sweet pea! I need you’re help!” Toni yelled running towards him. “It’s Echo! I can’t get her to wake up!”

The taller serpent was standing with FP and Fangs outside, looking at the damage to one of the shed doors. All three of them quickly began to run towards the main household, and up the staircase towards the bathroom.

“In here!” Cheryl yelled frantically.

Sweet pea was the only one who went into the bathroom, as Echo was naked. She had fallen asleep in the bathtub, and neither Toni nor Cheryl could wake her up. Grabbing a towel off the shelf, Sweet pea wrapped one around Echo before lifting her up.

“I don’t know what I’m meant to do!” He yelled through the door. He couldn’t get her to wake up either.

Cheryl chapped the door before entering the bathroom, “Nana says you’re to dress Echo and take her to the living room. She might be able to help.”

Sweet pea nodded, he quickly tore off his flannel shirt and put it on Echo. Giving how much taller Sweet pea was than his girlfriend, his top was like a dress on her. He didn’t know where her bag of clothes is, and he didn’t have time to look for them.

He practically sprinted down the stairs with Echo in his arm, once he entered the living room he saw Cheryl and her grandmother had set up a couch as a bed.

“Has she taken anything that could have caused her to fall into the state?” The creepy older women asked him.

Sweet pea shook his head, “I don’t think so... just some pain killers and antibiotics she had got from the hospital.”

Nana Rose stared at him as if she was waiting for him to do something, she let out a loud huff before talking again. “Well what are you waiting for young man? Go bring me the tablets.”

Sweet pea got Fangs and Toni to help him look for Echo’s stuff, once they found it he brought the full bag to Nana Rose who wasn’t shy about going through it. As the older women done that, Sweet pea sat next to his passed out girlfriend and ran his fingers through her hair. He was briefly aware of Nana Rose cutting up and sniffing the tablets she pulled out of Echo’s bag, but didn’t pay too much attention, but he did notice the gothic design of the household. He wondered how creepy it would to be living in a house like that.

“Well no wonder she’s not waking up. What did you say she was taking these for?” The older women asked scowling at the crushed up tablets in front of her.

“Erm...something about an infection. They told her she had it in hospital after she gave birth, and couldn’t breastfeed without it” he shrugged. Sweet pea loved Echo and cared for Sage as if she was his own, but the ins and outs of details of childbirth wasn’t something he wanted to know.

“These aren’t antibiotics young man, these tablets are a mixture of different things. They would cause a small horse to pass out, never mind a young woman.” she explained.

“So what can I do? There must be something I can do to help her?” Sweet pea asked worried.

“Plenty of sleep, food, water, and rest is what the doctor will order. Oh, and make sure she takes no more of them tablets, whoever gave her them didn’t want her to get any better. I’d be doubtful if she ever had an infection.” Nana Rose said as Cheryl began to wheel her out of the living room.

# ______

The next morning Echo woke up with the worst headache of her life, and a sudden feeling of starvation hit her. When did she last eat? When did she last feed her daughter? The sudden fear of not knowing where her daughter was struck through her body like lightening.

“Hey, take it easy” a soft voice said.

Echo turned to face an exhausted looking Jughead. “Jones? What’s going on, where’s Sage...I” she trailed off not knowing how to finished her sentence.

“Sage is fine.” Jughead reassured her, “Sweet pea has taken her out a walk to get fresh air and Toni looked after her during the night.”

Echo feeling a tiny bit better knowing her daughter was safe leaned back in the bed. “What the hell happened?” She asked. The last thing she remembered was being inside the school.

“You passed out while taking a bath, Sweet pea had to carry you out. Nana Rose examined the ‘antibiotics’ the hospital staff gave you to take home, she thinks they are fake” he explained watching the horrified expression on his friends face. “But once you are feeling better she’s got a drink that will flush all the poison out you’re body.”

Echo nodded, it was a lot of information to take in. Why on earth would they want to poison her if... “Jug I told Sweet pea about how they almost never even let me take Sage home, what if that’s a part of it? What if they are doing that to people from the Southside to try and get them addicted to drugs.”

Jughead didn’t know what to say, there was definitely something off about them tablets, but he didn’t want Echo to go down the conspiracy route again. He needed to choose his words wisely. “You might be right, or it could be something more personal... I’ll let Sweets know you are awake, try and not worry about it for now. Okay? The serpents have got you’re back.”


End file.
